Commentaries Dictionaries Concordances

James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary

Job 38:4

FINITE CREATURE V. INFINITE CREATOR

‘Who is this?… Where wast thou?’

Job 38:2; Job 38:4

I. Humility should be one grace which springs up in my heart as I think of the majesty and might of my God.—Where was I when He laid the foundations of the earth, when He determined the measures thereof and stretched the line upon it? And who am I that, face to face with Him, I should exalt and uplift myself?

II. But trustfulness should be another grace which flourishes in the soil of my heart, as I think of the greatness and glory of my God.—He who shuts up the sea with doors, He who stays its proud waves, He who commands the morning and causes the dayspring to know its place—He is my Father, my Saviour, my Comforter. When such a Lord is mine, I should not go careworn through the day nor lie sleepless during the hours of the night. I should live at ease. Since He is my Shepherd I will fear no evil, I will go from strength to strength.

Continues after advertising

See also Job 38:4 in other biblical comments:

  • Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

    Verse Job 38:4. _WHERE WAST THOU WHEN I LAID THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE_ _EARTH?_] Thou hast a limited and derived being; thou art only of _yesterday_; what canst thou know? Didst thou see me create the w...

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    WHERE WAST THOU WHEN I LAID THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH? - The first appeal is to the creation. The question here, “Where wast thou?” implies that Job was not present. He had not then an existence. H...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    V. THE LORD'S TESTIMONY TO JOB AND CONTROVERSY WITH HIM CHAPTER 38:1-38 _ 1. The Lord speaks to Job (Job 38:1)_ 2. The questions of the Lord (Job 38:4) Job 38:1. The voice of man is hushed; the voi...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    Yahweh, speaking to Job out of the storm, challenges him to the contest, which he has so often demanded....

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    THE WONDERS OF THE INANIMATE CREATION. Where was Job when the earth was made? The work of creation is described as the building of a house. In Job 38:7 the stars, which are older than the world (contr...

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    HAST UNDERSTANDING. knowest....

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    A survey of the inanimate creation, the wonders of earth and sky the earth, Job 38:4; the heavens, Job 38:18...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    Was Job present, possibly taking part in the operation, when Jehovah laid the foundations of the earth? Let him then "declare" how all was done. The word _declare_of course refers to the queries in Jo...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    Earth and sea....

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    _THE SHATTERING OF SILENCE_ VI. THE PRESENCE OF GOD AND THE PENITENCE OF JOB (Job 38:1, Job 42:6) A. INTEGRITY, CERTAINTY, AND KNOWLEDGE (Job 38:1, Job 40:2) 1.

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    _WHERE WAST THOU WHEN I LAID THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH? DECLARE, IF THOU HAST UNDERSTANDING._ To understand the cause of things, man should have been present at their origin. The finite creature c...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    THE FIRST SPEECH OF THE ALMIGHTY (JOB 38:39) The marvels of creation, which witness to the infinite wisdom, power, and watchful care of the Creator, are presented to Job in such a way as to force fro...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    JOB, A SERVANT OF GOD Job _KEITH SIMONS_ Words in boxes (except for words in brackets) are from the Bible. This commentary has been through Advanced Checking. CHAPTER 38 GOD BEGINS HIS SPEECH...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    God created the world. This was a wonderful event (Proverbs 8:22-31). This event showed God’s wisdom and God’s skill. God’s servants in heaven were so happy to see God’s work. Job did not even see thi...

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    WHERE WAST THOU? — The comparison of the creation of the world to the building of an edifice is such a concession to the feebleness of man as serves of itself to heighten the effect of the inevitable...

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    אֵיפֹ֣ה הָ֭יִיתָ בְּ יָסְדִי ־אָ֑רֶץ הַ֝גֵּ֗ד...

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    XXVII. "MUSIC IN THE BOUNDS OF LAW" Job 38:1 OVER the shadowed life of Job, and the world shadowed for him by his own intellectual and moral gloom, a storm sweeps, and from the storm issues a voice....

  • Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

    DIVINE POWER AND HUMAN IGNORANCE Job 38:1 When the storm had ceased and the thunder was hushed, a voice spoke out of the golden splendor of the sky. See Job 37:21. Job had challenged God to answer hi...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    Here begins the third movement in the great drama, that which deals with the controversy between Jehovah and Job. Out of the midst of the whirlwind the divine voice speaks. Its first word is a challen...

  • Geneva Study Bible Commentary

    Where wast thou when I (d) laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. (d) Seeing he could not judge those things which were done so long before he was born, he was not ab...

  • George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

    _Foundations. The Hebrews placed the earth in the centre of the universe, resting upon nothing, (chap. xxvi. 7., and xxxvi. 30.) or upon itself. See Hesiod, Theog. 325. (Calmet) --- These questions se...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    (4) В¶ Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. (5) Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? ...

  • John Brown Commentaries Selected Books of the Bible

    God Speaks Job Repents I. INTRODUCTION A. Last week we covered a lot of territory! 1. We finished with Elihu's speeches to Job and found that, although he was a lot more accurate in what he had to...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY COVERS CHAPTER S 38 THROUGH 42. Jehovah then speaks, and addressing Job, carries on the subject. He makes Job sensible of his nothingness. Job confesses himself to be vile, an...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    WHERE WAST THOU WHEN I LAID THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH?.... The earth has foundations, and such firm ones that it cannot be moved; but what are they, since it is hung in the air on nothing! No other...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Ver. 4. _Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?_] _q.d._ Thou wast nowhere, a mere _n...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?_ When I settled it as firm upon its own centre as if it had been built upon the surest foundations? Then thou wast nowhere; thou hadst no bei...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare if thou hast understanding. No human being having been present at the creation of the world, no human being can presume to tell God's...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    THE MANIFESTATION OF GOD'S MAJESTY IN CREATION...

  • Leslie M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible

    Marvellously, God Himself directly intervenes in this discussion so early in the history of man. The storm that had been brewing as Elihu spoke becomes a whirlwind, and God spoke to Job out of the whi...

  • Marginal Notes in the King James Version (1611)

    IF THOU HAST UNDERSTANDING: _ Heb._ if thou knowest understanding...

  • Mark Dunagan Commentaries

    "WHERE WERE YOU WHEN. LAID THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH?": "The creation of the earth was depicted as the construction of. building, with its foundation, dimensions (the meaning of "measurements"), mea...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    4-11 For the humbling of Job, God here shows him his ignorance, even concerning the earth and the sea. As we cannot find fault with God's work, so we need not fear concerning it. The works of his prov...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    Then thou wast no where, thou hadst no being; thou art but of yesterday; and dost thou presume to judge of my eternal counsels? I made the world without thy help, and therefore can govern it without t...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Job 38:4 Where H375 foundations H3245 (H8800) earth H776 Tell H5046 (H8685) have H3045 (H8804) understanding...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: God's challenge to Job. CHARACTERS: God, Job. CONCLUSION: Those who try to call God to account, will be called to account. Seeking to establish one's own character and darkening the counse...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    Job 38:1. _The whirlwind._ Clouds and flames are the chariots of the Lord, in deigning to speak with men. When he spake to Elijah in Horeb, it was with wind, and fire, and earthquake. Likewise in Psal...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?_ IGNORANCE OF THE WORLD’S ORIGIN God would impress on Job his utter ignorance of the world in which he lived, and his incompetency to inter...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    JOB 38:1 Challenge: The Lord Answers Job. The Lord responds in two speeches, each followed by a brief response from Job. Aware of God as never before, Job responds by humbly submitting to God’s sovere...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    JOB—NOTE ON JOB 38:4 Job had begun by lamenting his birth and the timing of his life (ch. Job 3:1). Using the same language of birth, the Lord now asks Job about the birth of the universe. Can Job exp...

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    _JEHOVAH’S ADDRESS TO JOB_ Elihu had now said all he intended. Possibly interrupted by the storm which had been gathering during his speech. Out of the storm-cloud, from which already issued thunders...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    CLOSE OF THE CONTROVERSY BY THE INTERFERENCE OF THE ALMIGHTY. EXPOSITION The discourse, by which the Almighty answers Job and rebukes his "friends," occupies four chapters (ch. 38-41.). It is broken...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou m...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    Genesis 1:1; Hebrews 1:10; Hebrews 1:2; Proverbs 30:4; Proverbs 8:22;...

  • Wells of Living Water Commentary

    GOD SPEAKS TO JOB Job 38:1 _to Job 42:1_ INTRODUCTORY WORDS God's words to Job do not carry much by way of the explanation of redemption. Job was a child of God, and well-instructed on those lines....

  • Wesley's Explanatory Notes

    Where — Thou art but of yesterday; and dost thou presume to judge of my eternal counsels! When — When I settled it as firm upon its own center as if it had been built upon the surest foundations....

Continues after advertising